NHL Grind Down: Friday, January 13th - Page Two
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New Jersey Devils at Calgary Flames
| New Jersey Devils | Calgary Flames | ||||||||
 | Keith Kinkaid |  | Brian Elliott | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 16-18-9 | 23-19-2 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.19 | 2.90 | 13.00% | 82.70% | Team Stats | 2.61 | 2.73 | 20.70% | 81.60% |
The Devils are another one of those four teams that hasn’t netted their 100th goal as yet and will need three of them here tonight to accomplish that feat. That may be a stretch however as they have only lit the lamp 17 times over the last ten games. Taylor Hall, P.A Parenteau and Adam Henrique will skate on the top line as Travis Zajac will center Kyle Palmieri and Mike Cammalleri. To give you an idea of how bad it’s been for the Devils both Parenteau and Palmieri lead the team with five points over the last nine games. Hall would be the only thing close to a one-off cash play here tonight as he has nine goals and 17 assists in 33 games so far. This gives him a share of the team lead with Zajac in points as they both have 26 so far this season. The only difference being is that Zajac needed nine more games to get there. You can Pair up Hall with Parenteau for a tournament play or go with Zajac and either one of his wingers. The Devils do not warrant much consideration for cash games and probably shouldn’t be counted on too heavily for your tournament plays as well. Defenseman Kyle Quincey appears to be getting some run with the top power play unit but I’d stick with Damon Severson if you feel the need to roster a New Jersey defenseman. Severson has registered nine of his 20 points with the man advantage. I wouldn’t expect much out of this New Jersey squad that just lost in overtime last night in Edmonton by a score of 3-2.
The Flames come into this one looking to improve on their 23-19-2 record which has them in fourth placed in the Pacific Division. They have also been playing better in front of the home crowd as they are 5-1 in their last six home games. Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Alex Chiasson serve as the team’s top line that also is the line that is tapped when the Flames draw a penalty. Gaudreau has collected ten of his 27 points while on the power play while Monahan has five goals and four assists with the man advantage. While the top line makes for a decent play it has been the second line that has been doing most of the damage. Mikael Backlund leads the team in goals and points while skating on a line with Matthew Tkachuk and the very streaky Michael Frolik. Tkachuk has been starting to get his season together as his five points over the last five games now have him in a tie for second in points with Gaudreau. Meanwhile Frolik has lit the lamp four times in the last five games as his season total now sits at 11 goals and 14 assists. Kris Versteeg comes up from the third line to join Gaudreau and Company on the top power play unit. Versteeg does have seven power play points over 32 games but really isn’t the player that can be counted on to find the score sheet on a nightly basis. T.J. Brodie gets the top minutes on the power play from the back line while Mark Giordano and Dougie Hamilton are also in the conversation when it comes making a selection here. Giordano is tied with Gaudreau and Backlund with ten points on the power play while Hamilton leads the defense in scoring and shots with 25 and 124 so far this season. Look for Calgary to catch New Jersey back on their heels as they are coming in fresh off a game in Edmonton last night.
Elite Plays
NJ: Taylor Hall
CGY: Mikael Backlund, Johnny Gaudreau
Secondary Plays
NJ: P.A. Parenteau, Travis Zajac, Kyle Palmieri
CGY: Sean Monahan, Matthew Tkachuk, Alex Chiasson, Dougie Hamilton, Mark Giordano
Winnipeg Jets at Arizona Coyotes
| Winnipeg Jets | Arizona Coyotes | ||||||||
 | Connor Hellebuyck |  | Mike Smith | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 20-21-3 | 12-22-6 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 2.73 | 3.00 | 17.00% | 77.20% | Team Stats | 2.05 | 3.18 | 14.40% | 76.30% |
Head coach Paul Maurice was not happy with his team’s performance on Wednesday night as they dropped a 7-4 decision to the Atlantic Division leading Montreal Canadiens on home ice. They now take to the road for a quick three game stint that starts in Arizona tonight. Patrik Laine will remain out of the lineup and that surely doesn’t help matters as he leads the team with 21 goals. Mark Scheifele leads the team with 39 points and will center the top line along with Nikolaj Ehlers and Drew Stafford. Ehlers leads the team with 24 assists and is just one point behind the team leader on the Jets scoring chart. Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little and Mathieu Perreault look to be the line to target here as the jets have finally come to their sense and have taken Nic Petan off the top power play unit. Wheeler and Little have combined for nine points over the last five games and should have most of the ice to themselves’ as Arizona more than likely won’t be able to shut down the Scheifele line, let alone the second line. There was a little concern as to whether defenseman Jacob Trouba was going to play in Wednesday night’s game but took to the ice in the 7-4 loss. Dustin Byfuglien leads the team with 130 shots on goal and should be the guy to look to tonight, especially after Maurice ripped the team after Wednesday night’s loss.
What we are looking at here is one of the worst teams in the league. It doesn’t matter who skates on what line or what line gets the power play minutes this team is just flat out bad. Even the –overtime loss’ column can’t help Arizona from looking bad as they come into this one with a 12-22-6 record. Only Colorado has less than their 30 points but as luck would have it the Avalanche have more wins than the ailing Coyotes with 13. The only thing that we can hope for is that their week off has given them some kind of new angle on things as whatever they were doing before the break clearly wasn’t working. Martin Hanzal looks to return to the lineup tonight to center Tobias Rieder and Anthony Duclair. So far the trade of Keith Yandle for John Moore and Duclair has been a total bust as Duclair has just nine points in 37 games. With that said the Coyotes were trying to reunite him with Max Domi to try to rekindle a little of that 2015 WJIC chemistry that led Canada to the gold medal. This has not materialized however as it has been Domi who has missed 14 games so far this season. Radim Vrbata will skate on the second line and can be used as a one-off here as he leads the team with nine goals, 15 assists, 24 points and 117 shots on goal. To put these numbers into perspective, Vrbata would be tie for fourth on the Buffalo Sabres scoring list. Vrbata will skate with Peter Holland and Jamie McGinn while Christian Dvorak will center Shane Doan and Brendan Perlini. Oliver Ekman-Larsson is the choice on the back line as he leads the team with 11 power play points and sees a minimum of 24 minutes of ice time on a nightly basis. Arizona is a bad team, but even bad teams score once in a while.
Elite Plays
WIN: Mark Scheifele
ARZ: None
Secondary Plays
WIN: Nikolaj Ehlers, Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little, Mathieu Perreault, Dustin Byfuglien
ARZ: Radim Vrbata, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Martin Hanzal